1. Field of the Invention
The staging of events is big business. Whether an event is to be held in a hotel, office, coliseum, theater, or a big open space, the conduct of such events has become an industry unto itself. Since man graduated from sitting around the camp fire to the conference room, the table has been the mainstay of every conceivable event where folks congregate for a common purpose.
Today there are banquets, seminars, theater, including dinner theater, expositions, parties, casino gambling, and the list is endless.
Interestingly, in every event that centers around tables, the tables are configured differently depending on what type of event is contemplated.
Yet the industry response is to provide two, and perhaps three basic tables, e.g., rectangles, which include square tables, and rounds. Some tables have leaves that can be inserted to change the size of the table, and others have leaves that fold into position level with the table top and retract out of the way when not needed. Yet, the basic configuration remains the same, i.e., round or rectangular.
Additionally, the tables that are commercially available today are typically heavy, difficult to handle, from storage to set up, to breakdown and moving from location to location. Such tables typically require at least two people to manipulate them, and often necessitate a cart to transport them. Thus, set up and breakdown costs are high, and storage is an additional problem.
2. Overview of the Prior Art
As will be quickly apparent, there are several facets of the event table of the present invention which are inextricably intertwined to make a unique and particularly useful unit. The prior art is singularly lacking in any reference which, in and of itself, defines the present invention. There are, however, pretenders which illustrate the state of the art relative to table shapes which are the current standard in the industry.
By way of example, Sullivan U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,654 depicts a standard "square" which, fortuitously, provides drop leaves that convert the shape to a "round ". To a similar effect is Tordsen U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,578 and Sullivan U.S. Pat. No. 2,907,616.
Pollak U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,393 is somewhat more imaginative in that it departs somewhat from the rectangle/round standard to provide an extendable plate from a round as seen in FIG. 1. FIGS. 5 and 6, as discussed in column 3, however, revert to the square/round standard.
Finally, Carlson, in his U.S. Pat. No. 2,273,006 offers some deviation from the norm by providing a square table with leaves which, when selectively extended, form a polygon.
It will be immediately apparent to even the most casual observer, that none of the foregoing efforts define available space in the exclusive style and manner of the present invention.
It is a feature of the table of the present invention that the leaves fold from their extended position to a position under the main portion of the table in such a manner that the terminus, or end, of the table presents a flat perpendicular edge. Several features meld together to create such a surface, which is essential to the ability of the table to be connected with like tables to form various useful patterns.